Mischa Barton — whose CW network show The Beautiful Life was recently canceled after just a couple of episodes — has decided that she no longer wants to be a TV star. “I think I need to back away from the whole TV approach,” she said. “That whole world of network television, probably isn’t, for me, a good idea now. I need to start reading for more serious roles.” But don’t expect Mischa to be back at work any time soon — she’s more likely to be at the front of an unemployment queue than a camera — Barton hasn’t got a clue what her next project will be. “It’s too early to tell yet,” she said. “I’m passing on all the [early] offers, because that’s not the stuff you want to do. I want to go fight for interesting things and look for something that’s going to be interesting for me … as a role.” Mischa says she has been busy “reading scripts and enjoying living in New York. “Now that I’m not doing the TV show, I’ve got lots of time to work out.”

Mischa Barton has quit Los Angeles — she’s relocating permanently to New York following the cancellation of her short-lived TV show The Beautiful Life. Barton — who was in the Big Apple filming the CW network show, created by Ashton Kutcher — says she has no plans to return to her Hollywood home. “I grew up in the city, so there’s a lot to love about it,” Barton told the New York Post newspaper. “All my close friends are here. I feel it’s a fun city to lay low in and you get treated right.”

Mischa Barton has spent most of her life living in America — but she still regards herself as British. The star — who was born on London, England, in 1986 — insists she hasn’t forgotten her roots. “I still regard myself as British, even though nobody thinks I am,” she said. “Definitely. I don’t feel out of place in Britain. I have a really British family. My sister lives in London and works as a barrister, but nobody can ever get their head around it. “When you’re from a country, people get really protective about it. In America nobody thinks of me as American, and here nobody believes I’m British.”

Mischa Barton insists she’s no “bitch” — she says she’s still fairly normal, despite her fame. “My family keep me grounded,” she tells Britain’s Sunday Mirror newspaper. “I still take the subway and do my own laundry. Well, not all of the time, but I’m not a bitch. I enjoy having a normal life.” Barton admits her life was “crazy” when she shot to fame in The OC several years ago. “The OC was a crazy four years for me, so when it ended it was kind of bitter-sweet,” she said. “But it was syndicated everywhere in the world. I sometimes wish I was just a bit-part actor so I could get on with my life and my acting. As I get older I’ll try to step back from the fame thing. “Every day the paparazzi intrude into my life. I can’t believe I can be that interesting. I try to be graceful about it. I’m not a rude person, but it can be difficult not to unleash your angry side.”

Lindsay Lohan has no shame! The troubled Mean Girls star reportedly tried to steal Mischa Barton’s role in TV show The Beautiful Life when she was hospitalized earlier this year. Although Lindsay kept sending Mischa messages of support — she was secretly trying to nick her job, the National Enquirer reports. “Lindsay was contacting the show’s producers to let them know SHE was available to play Mischa’s part in case she couldn’t come back to work,” a source said. “Mischa was furious. “She feels Lindsay she be looking for her own acting gigs, not encroaching on her territory.”